Growth - Ellen Chauvin | Soaked & Sprouting

Growing Toward the Son: Lessons from Sunflowers

September 7, 2026 by Ellen 2 Comments

It’s official: I have the summer doldrums. The South Louisiana heat has taken its toll on me. The dictionary defines doldrums as a period of stagnation or slump. They have even affected my writing. I’m in a slump. I haven’t wanted to move or DO anything; I want to sit in the comfort of a cool, air-conditioned home.

Until that morning…

It was early. It was a Monday morning. Not being a morning person, I rarely notice anything. Unless it’s hundreds of happy faces smiling brightly at me. They were sunflowers! Planted in a sugarcane field!

Their faces brought me so much joy. How had I missed them on the way to church yesterday? Why were they planted in the sugarcane fields?

There are several reasons cane farmers are planting sunflowers in the off-season:

Those beautiful sunflowers shade the soil and help suppress weeds.

The sunflowers have their own subsoil community (nematodes [worms, ugh!], bacteria, fungi, etc.) which flourishes in the thin layer of soil around the roots. This is a different subsoil community than the sugar cane roots. And this enriches the soil for cane growth.

After harvesting the sunflowers, their stems can be left in the field. The sunflower stems mulch and enrich the soil, further supporting the cane growth.
Young sunflower buds follow the sun, but once the flower head opens, it faces east permanently.
They are beautiful and make people happy!

There’s more to sunflowers than the agricultural facts, though. Here are three lessons I learned:

1. Follow the Son. So much is vying for our attention these days. So many people to “follow” on social media. But the only One we need to follow is Jesus. Sparkly things catch our eyes, distract us, and pull us away from Him. Follow Jesus. Keep your eyes on Him. “Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith…” Hebrews 12:2 ESV

2. Pray through the storms. I missed the sunflowers when I passed them earlier because it was cloudy and raining. The young sunflower blooms were facing down. Their heads were “bowed.” When stormy weather comes and circumstances overwhelm us, pray. Bow your head and heart and talk to Jesus. He will calm the storm. “He (Jesus) got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm.” Luke 8:24 NIV

3. Grow among the weeds. The field contained some weeds alongside the sunflowers. But the weeds didn’t stop the sunflowers from growing! The beautiful flowers continued to grow. We will face “weeds” in our lives that can choke our growth in the Lord. But the Son brings us nourishment. And God is our Gardener—He will remove any weeds that cause us to struggle in our walk with Him. “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.” John 15:1 CSB

The sunflowers were beautiful and brought me great joy. But they also taught me some valuable lessons! And they encouraged me to grow sunflowers! Now I have a small square of smiling faces in my own front yard.

-What brings you joy and delight?

-When have you slowed down to notice something lately?

Grace be with you,

Growing All the Way to Heaven

July 17, 2015 by Ellen 8 Comments

“Granny, how big will they get?”

“These are small zinnias, they’ll only be about 12 inches tall.”

“Granny, I wish they would grow all the way to heaven! What can we plant that will grow that high?”

“Why, I can’t think of a thing! Everything on earth has a limit to its growth. Even you, even me! I won’t ever get any taller. And once you’re an adult, you’ll stop growing taller, too! Everything stops growing eventually.”

Except our relationship with Jesus Christ…

There was a season – decades, actually – in my life that had no spiritual growth. I knew Jesus as my Savior, but our relationship didn’t get much further than that. Because of my circumstances, and eventually my choice, I stopped attending church. I very rarely read my Bible, and my prayer life did not exist. Well, except for the emergency flare prayers, when I was in a bind. I definitely wasn’t growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus.

Have you ever had a wilderness wandering – not growing, not deepening your faith in Jesus? Maybe you’re there now. I think most of us go through this from time to time – although hopefully not for decades! We become complacent where we are. Comfortable. Or, in my case, just plain stagnant.

But continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, now and forever! Amen.2 Peter 3:18 (GNT)

God’s word tells us to grow in Christ. This is a continual growth. One that never ends. How on earth can we do this? I’ve had days that my actions and words scream “This Christian girl’s not growing!” That’s when I start thinking “What’s the use? I’ll never get it.”

How about you? Do you ever feel like giving up, coasting? Don’t do it! Sometimes growth is taking one step forward and two steps back. We learn from our mistakes. It builds character in us. But should we stop? No, indeed.

[tweetthis]Our Christian growth should be non-stop, not non-existent.[/tweetthis]

How can we be constantly growing in our knowledge of Christ? The best place to start is in His word. After God drew me back to Himself, I discovered that I absolutely love scripture. God’s word builds and strengthens us. It’s there we will find Jesus, and find out about Him. We’ll see His story woven through history.

But there’s another way to be ever growing: Stretch yourself. Get out of your comfort zone. Step out in obedience to Him, even when you don’t feel equipped to do so. Why? Our faith is made stronger. You and I will experience more of Him as we learn to trust. We will have first hand knowledge of Jesus, as we experience Him daily.

This builds our history with Him. We can look back and see the ways Jesus has provided for us, how He’s loved on us. When you and I look back, we will see the times He’s been there, even when we didn’t realize it in the moment. And, we can look forward with delight to the ways He will lavish us with His strength and grace.

Our constant growth honors and glorifies Jesus. The more we grow, the more we become like Him. Think if we were all intentional about our spiritual growth. Imagine all of us looking more like Jesus in our actions and words, at home and at work. Think of the multitude of lights that would be shining in this dark world!

Let’s keep on growing, all the way to heaven!

How are you continually growing in Christ? Leave a comment, I’d love to hear from you!

Until next week,